


Together Till Dawn

by Gunsuya_Suou



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 10:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3378080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gunsuya_Suou/pseuds/Gunsuya_Suou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chie is kept awake by her feelings for Yukiko, and the thought of confessing them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together Till Dawn

A light had been shone upon the shadows of Chie’s mind. Accepting her shadow had felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, one that had been so omnipresent she didn’t realize how heavy it had been until it was gone. Yet once she’d started clearing out the cobwebs in her mind she couldn’t seem to stop, what thoughts she once put aside and repressed were now clear in her mind and unable to be ignored. She lay on her bed, sleepless and staring at the ceiling, trying to reason with her thoughts, to ignore them, or just deal with them, but neither option seemed possible. The root of her current dilemma was the same it had been with her shadow; her feelings for Yukiko.

She cared for her friend so deeply that she sometimes became anxious just imagining what her life would be like if they never met, or if they were forced to part. They were inseparable, known as the best of friends, and that’s how they saw the other. Even in the moments where they held each other’s hand, or lingered upon an embrace, or turned down guys, because why would they need a boyfriend when they had each other? Chie had thought these things normal between friends, but now that she beginning to face just how great feelings were, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Her eyes glanced over and lingered upon the phone. She screwed up her face and told herself she wasn’t going to call Yukiko in the middle of the night, and that she wasn’t going to embarrass herself fumbling for the right words to explain what she was feeling. Chie cursed herself though; knowing that she’d already made up her mind about exactly what she was going to do, and she threw off her covers in one quick frustrated movement, rushing over to her phone.

Chie dialed each digit in a deliberate but fumbling motion, feeling dread resting in the pit of her stomach, while blood rushed to her face. Why was she so embarrassed of all things? She tried to assure herself they were just silly meaningless feelings while the phone dialed, that she and Yukiko would soon be laughing about it and that would be the end of it. Yet, even though she could plot out clearly the logical progression of events in her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder what if. What if Yukiko took it badly thought she was being creepy or weird and didn’t want to talk to her anymore? She held the receiver so forcefully her knuckles were white, jaw clenched tightly while she waited for the horrid purgatory of the dialing phone to end. She needed Yukiko to pick up already or ignore, if she waited any longer she might scream.

The dialing came to an end, and a comforting but drowsy voice answered,

“This is Yukiko Amagi of the Amagi Inn how may I-” she paused for a moment trying to stifle a small yawn, one that immediately bought the word ‘cute’ to Chie’s mind, before Yukiko continued, “how may I help you today?” Chie couldn’t help but beam with admiration while noting aloud to her friend playfully,

“Formal even while exhausted huh?” Her anxiety seemed to have melted away immediately after hearing Yukiko speak. It wasn’t too surprising though, she’d always had that effect on Chie, her friend could make her smile on her worst days when no one else could.

“Oh Chie it’s you,” Yukiko remarked, voice perking up immediately. Chie could swear just by the tone of her voice Yukiko was smiling as she asked, “So what’s on your mind?”

Chie immediately remembered what it was she called Yukiko for, felt her stomach churn with dread, and her palms grow sweaty as she once more clutched the phone for dear life. The stress was waking her up, and only now did she realize she hadn’t even considered what she was going to say to Yukiko. Now that she thought about it, could she explain, whatever it was she was feeling, over a simple phone call? That hardly seemed appropriate, even if she wasn’t quite sure why.

“Chie, is something wrong?” Yukiko asked with a slight tremble in her voice, and Chie was snapped out of her thoughts, and realized she’d been so occupied with them she’d been silent for at least ten seconds.

“It’s just-” she began but faltered immediately, chest tight, breathing heavy. She couldn’t do it, she couldn’t explain herself over the phone. She felt compelled to talk in person, and with barely a second thought blurted out loudly, 

“I NEED TO MEET UP WITH YOU.” There was silence on the other end of the line for a second that felt like an eternity, and Chie quickly added nervously, her words colliding into each other, “If you want to I mean! You know you don’t have to if you don’t want to, since you were probably just asleep and all-” Yukiko quickly interjected in an assuring tone saying,

“It’s okay Chie really, to tell you the truth and I haven’t slept all night. Besides this is clearly important to you, and I’d do anything to help my-” Chie found herself holding her breath, and her heart stop, in the split second pause before Yukiko said, “friend.” 

“Y-yeah of course,” she replied, but what she didn’t say was how for a moment she’d expected Yukiko to call her something different, to address Chie as her prince. It was a ridiculous notion; that had all just been Yukiko’s shadow talking after all. But the shadow was still a part of her, some figment of Yukiko saw Chie as her prince, and Chie didn’t care to admit just how happy that made her.

“So where do you want to meet Chie?” 

***

Chie quickly threw on some clothes and crept out of her house, before hastily making her down to Tatsuhime Shrine. As she approached it the night was drawing to a close, the sky grey, but the sun nowhere in sight. In the dreary atmosphere Yukiko stood out effortlessly, her radiant smile cutting through the fog. She gave Yukiko a bashful grin back, and a stiff wave as she shambled quickly over to her. 

Chie addressed her dearest friend with a muffled ‘hey’ into her jackets collar. Yukiko gave a more confident greeting, and her poised nature gave Chie strength. The two awkwardly looked around for a place they could talk properly and comfortably, before settling upon the steps of the shrine, eyes looking out to the horizon.

A part of her wished Yukiko would break the silence, but she could see that the other girl didn’t want to put any pressure on her to speak. Chie was both grateful that her friend would give her time to consider her words, and also resentful for it seemed to put that much more pressure on her not to screw up. She made herself look into Yukiko’s dark eyes, as black and beautiful as the night sky, and spoke brashly and quickly,

“I really like you.” That’s not what she meant though, that’s not what she really wanted to say. But to say anymore, to speak of the depth of her feelings, felt unnatural. Living in a small insular town even the very thought of being in a relationship with a girl felt strange and alien. The unspoken expectation that she would get a boyfriend, eventually, was always omnipresent, from her family, from her friends, except from Yukiko. She was the only person she wanted to be with, not some boy, but how could she say that without ruining all that they had?

Yukiko was taken off guard for a moment, before her features softened into a smile and she assured her,

“I really like you too Chie.” Chie tried to find the right words, and she felt herself begin to shake, feeling as though the whole meeting was a grave mistake. 

“That’s not I mean-” her words ran together quickly, but when Yukiko came to rest her hand upon her shoulder, she blurted out without thinking, “I like you more than I should.” A heavy silence hung in the air, and Chie averted her gaze from Yukiko’s afraid that her friend would look upon with her disgust.

Yet her delicate hand did not move from her shoulder, and Chie felt Yukiko’s other hand come to gently rest upon her own.

“I feel the same with,” Yukiko told her in a voice so low, so gentle that for a moment Chie wasn’t sure she’d actually heard it. She found the strength to look at her friend, her face twisted with a great sadness and longing that Chie knew was so much like her own. She wasn’t sure which of them had moved first, but before she knew the two were holding each other for dear life in an embrace far deeper and far longer than anything two friends would have.

Chie and Yukiko sat upon the steps of the shrine till dawn, chatting and laughing together as they always did, but while holding each other hands tightly, and making no attempts to hide how much they wanted to stare deeply into each other’s eyes. They felt even happier together in that moment, now they’d taken the first steps to reconciling how they felt about each other, and the nature of their relationship. It would take some time for them to completely accept what they had, but they would do so together, and the two exchanged a long affectionate gaze, knowing no matter what they had, being with each other was the most important part.


End file.
